Unit 6 · Medicine East and West

About 2,400 years ago, a doctor named Hippocrates lived on the Greek island of Kos. Many people then believed that angry gods sent sickness. A sick person might pray at a temple and hope to be healed.

Hippocrates and his students had a different idea. They taught that illness has natural causes. Food, water, weather and the way a person lives can all play a part. That means a doctor can look for the cause.

So Hippocrates watched his patients closely. He wrote down their fever, breathing and sleep day by day. This careful watching is called observation. Doctors still start the same way today. They look, listen and ask questions.

Greek doctors tried to explain why people got sick. They taught that the body holds four fluids, called the four humors. They were blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Health meant the four were in balance.

Doctors in Europe and the Middle East believed this for about 2,000 years. To fix a fever, a doctor might take blood out of a sick person. This was called bleeding. We now know it often made people weaker.

Then scientists looked more closely. They used microscopes and careful tests. They found germs and learned how organs work. The humor idea was replaced. This is how science works. When new evidence comes, ideas can change.

When new doctors finish school, many stand up and make a promise out loud. The oldest famous promise for doctors is the Hippocratic Oath. It is named for Hippocrates. His followers probably wrote it.

An oath is a serious promise. In the old oath, a doctor promises to help the sick as well as he can. He promises not to hurt them on purpose. He also promises to keep private what patients tell him.

Today many medical schools use newer promises. The words have changed over time. But the main ideas stay the same. Help the patient. Do no harm. Keep the patient’s secrets safe.

Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 to a rich English family. She wanted to be a nurse. Her family did not like the idea. In those days nursing was not a respected job. Florence did it anyway.

In 1854 she led a group of nurses to the army hospital at Scutari. She saw dirt, bad air and crowded beds. Her team scrubbed floors, washed sheets and cooked healthy food. They opened windows for fresh air. Good sanitation, or keeping places clean, became her goal.

Back home, Florence wrote a famous book called Notes on Nursing in 1859. In 1860 she started a school to train nurses in London. She helped make nursing a skilled and respected job.

Florence Nightingale loved math. At Scutari she kept careful records. She wrote down how many soldiers died each month. She also wrote down why they died.

Her numbers showed something surprising. Far more soldiers died from sicknesses like cholera and typhus than from battle wounds. Many of these sicknesses spread through dirty water and crowded rooms. Cleaning up could prevent them.

Long tables of numbers are hard to read quickly. So Florence drew colorful charts. Each wedge showed deaths in one month. The charts made the problem easy to see. This kind of number evidence is called data. Her data helped change army hospitals.

In France in the 1860s, a scientist named Louis Pasteur studied why milk and wine go bad. He looked through a microscope. He saw tiny living things too small to see with your eyes. We call them germs, or microbes.

Pasteur did a famous test. He boiled broth in flasks with long curved necks. Dust and germs from the air got stuck in the curve. The broth stayed fresh. When germs got in, the broth spoiled. Germs came from other germs, not from nothing.

Pasteur found that gentle heating kills many harmful germs in wine. Later, milk was heated the same way. This is called pasteurization, after him. He also helped make vaccines. His work led to germ theory, the idea that germs cause many diseases.

Clara Barton was born in Massachusetts in 1821. During the American Civil War she brought food, bandages and medicine right to the battlefields. She cared for hurt soldiers. People called her the Angel of the Battlefield.

After the war, Clara visited Europe. There she learned about the International Red Cross. It helped people hurt in war. Clara wanted the same help in America. In 1881 she founded the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross also helps after disasters like floods, fires and storms. It gives shelter, food and first aid. Today it also collects donated blood for hospitals. Clara showed that one person can start help that lasts.

Imagine a girl with a bad sore throat. A doctor looks at her throat. A nurse gently swabs it. The swab goes to a laboratory, or lab. A worker there tests it for a kind of germ called strep bacteria.

The test comes back positive. The doctor gives an antibiotic. Antibiotics are medicines that kill bacteria. In 1928 Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, one of the first antibiotics. Antibiotics do not work on viruses, like a cold.

A pharmacist fills the medicine and explains how to take it. Many people work as a team. Always take medicine only the way a doctor or pharmacist says. Ask a trusted adult if you have questions.

Suppose a company makes a new medicine for headaches. How do we know it works? People might feel better anyway. So scientists run a fair test called a clinical trial.

In a trial, volunteers are split into two groups by chance. One group gets the new medicine. The other group gets a placebo, a pill with no medicine in it. Often, nobody in the groups knows which one they got. Then scientists compare the two groups.

Trials start small, with a few people, to check safety. Then they grow bigger. Only after many tests can a medicine be sold. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, checks the results. This is science testing what works.

Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, began in China thousands of years ago. A famous old book, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, was put together about 2,000 years ago. Millions of people use TCM today.

TCM teaches about qi, said like chee. In TCM, qi is a life energy that flows through the body. TCM teaches that qi moves along paths called meridians. When qi flows smoothly, TCM says, a person is healthy.

TCM also teaches about yin and yang. These are two opposite sides that need each other, like cool and warm or rest and action. TCM says health comes from their balance. These are the tradition’s ideas. Scientists have not measured qi or meridians.

Remember Wei’s grandmother. Her healer placed very thin needles in her skin. This is called acupuncture. It is one of the best-known parts of TCM. The needles are much thinner than a needle for a shot.

TCM teaches that the needles go into special points, called acupuncture points. The tradition says this helps qi flow. A trained, licensed acupuncturist uses clean needles that are used only once.

Scientists have studied acupuncture in many tests. Some studies show it may help some people with certain kinds of pain, like low back pain or sore knees. For many other problems the evidence is unclear. Scientists still study how and why it helps.

Early one morning in a park, a group of older adults moves slowly together. They shift their weight and turn their arms like flowing water. This is tai chi. A similar practice with breathing and gentle moves is called qigong.

Studies show that tai chi can help older adults improve their balance. Better balance means fewer falls. It can also help people feel calm. Many community centers in the U.S. now offer tai chi classes.

TCM also uses herbal medicine, made from roots, leaves and bark. One plant from Chinese tradition, sweet wormwood, led scientist Tu Youyou to a malaria medicine. She won a Nobel Prize in 2015. But herbs can be strong. Always tell your doctor about any herbs you take.

Ayurveda comes from India. Its name means knowledge of life. Old books of Ayurveda, like the Charaka Samhita, are about 2,000 years old. Many millions of people in India and around the world still use it.

Ayurveda holds that each person has a mix of three doshas. They are named vata, pitta and kapha. Ayurveda links vata with air and movement, pitta with fire and digestion, and kapha with earth, water and steadiness.

Ayurveda teaches that every person has their own mix. It says health comes when the doshas are in balance. These are the tradition’s ideas. Science has not measured doshas the way it measures blood pressure.

In a school gym, a class sits on mats. The teacher says, breathe in slowly, now breathe out. The students stretch their arms up like a tall tree. This is yoga. Yoga began in India long ago and is closely linked with Ayurveda.

Yoga joins body poses, slow breathing and quiet focus. Some poses stretch. Some build strength. Slow breathing can help a busy mind feel calmer. You can do it anywhere.

Studies show yoga can help people stretch, get stronger and feel less stressed. For some adults, it may help low back pain. Yoga does not cure serious diseases. Start slowly, and stop if something hurts.

Ayurveda pays close attention to diet, the food a person eats. It teaches that warm, fresh meals help balance. Spices like ginger, cumin and turmeric are common in Ayurvedic cooking.

Turmeric is a yellow spice. It gives curry its bright color. Scientists are studying turmeric. So far there is not strong evidence that it treats diseases. Enjoying it in food is common and usually safe.

Scientists have also tested Ayurvedic supplements sold as pills. In a 2008 study, most products bought online were free of metals. But about one in five contained lead, mercury or arsenic. These metals can harm the body. So buy only with a trusted adult, and tell your doctor about anything you take.

Walk down a street in Chicago’s Chinatown and you may see a shop with jars of dried roots and herbs. Traditional medicine is part of life for many families around the world.

The World Health Organization, or WHO, is a group that works on health for the whole world. In a 2019 report, WHO said that most of its member countries report that people there use traditional medicine.

Because so many people use these traditions, it matters to know what is safe and what helps. Some countries now train and license traditional healers. They also check that herbs are clean and labeled.

Scientists test traditional practices the same way they test new medicines. They use fair tests, like clinical trials. One group tries the practice. Another group does not. Then they compare.

Some results are clear. Tai chi can help older adults with balance. Yoga helps with stretching and feeling calm. Acupuncture may help some kinds of pain. Tu Youyou’s work with sweet wormwood led to a malaria medicine used around the world.

Other results are unclear, or show no help. Some remedies may even cause harm. That is why scientists keep testing. Good science asks: does it help, for whom, and is it safe? The answer is not always the same for every practice.

Remember Wei’s grandmother. She sees an acupuncturist and a regular doctor. She tells both of them what the other does. This helps keep her safe. Her helpers act as one health care team.

Some herbs can change how other medicines work. A doctor or pharmacist can check whether things are safe to take together. They can only help if they know what you use.

You can help your own health, too. Tell a parent or trusted adult when you feel sick. Help your family make a list of any medicines, herbs or supplements. Bring the list to checkups. Asking questions is a smart and brave thing to do.